WORCESTER — It appears that the traffic signal on Pleasant Street near Christ the King Church — a source of controversy in the Tatnuck area in recent weeks — is going to stay on after all.

City Manager Michael V. O'Brien told the City Council Tuesday night that the Pleasant Street traffic signal at Cardinal and Wrentham roads will likely be left on and timed with the new traffic signal at Moreland Street in such a way traffic will be allowed to flow smoothly along that part of Pleasant Street.

Mr. O'Brien said the decision was in response to input that Tatnuck area residents offered last week at a neighborhood meeting, as well as conversations he had with District 5 Councilor William J. Eddy and Mayor Joseph M. Petty the day after that meeting.

The manager praised the efforts of Mr. Eddy and Mr. Petty, as well as the passion of the neighborhood residents, for wanting to keep the traffic signal on.

"This is good news for the residents in that area; I'm sure they will really appreciate this," Mr. Petty said.

Changes are being made to traffic signaling along Pleasant Street after a Massachusetts Department of Transportation traffic engineering study of the Highland Street-Pleasant Street corridor revealed that high vehicle counts at Pleasant and Moreland streets warranted a fully signalized intersection.

That same study also showed low traffic counts at Pleasant Street and Cardinal and Wrentham roads, next to Christ the King Church, and as a result it does not meet federal standards for warranting a fully signalized intersection.

City officials have said that traffic signal is also responsible for bottlenecks along that section of Pleasant Street. As a result, the plan was to deactivate the traffic signal at Pleasant and Wrentham/Cardinal roads after the new signal at Pleasant and Moreland is activated.

But neighborhood residents made it clear they opposed the elimination of that light. More than 100 people attended the neighborhood meeting last Thursday night at Christ the King Church.

They urged city officials to keep the traffic signal at Wrentham and Cardinal active, saying it would become much more difficult for motorists to get onto Pleasant Street from several side streets in that area if it is deactivated.

Meanwhile, Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes Tuesday night asked for a report from the city administration on all the traffic improvements and changes the Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans to make from Lincoln Square to Tatnuck Square.

As part of her order, she also asked that adequate public notice be given for any hearings to be held regarding those changes.

But Mr. Eddy countered that the process has been very transparent to date and he chided those people who have complained that the traffic signal changes were "big secrets."

He said the state held two well advertised public hearings on the proposed changes and among those at the hearings were those who have complained about how things have been a big secret.

He added that the City Council had been notified all along by the state as to what was going on.

Mr. O'Brien said city officials will be meeting again with neighborhood residents at Christ the King Church on Dec. 11.